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Jennifer & Jessica | Wonderfully joyous Lesbian Jewish Wedding at The Old Manse, Concord, and John Pierce House, Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA

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lesbian-Jewish-wedding
It’s not so unusual to feature a wedding with homemade invitations, an extraordinarily meaningful chuppah, and a vegetarian menu… But arriving by canoe, personalised pencil favours, a custom neon sign, and a joint breaking of the glass on the same rock where revolutionists, Henry David Thoreau and Nathanial Hawthorne once sat? Now that is a little more unusual!

Jennifer and Jessica had a very personal wedding like no other. It was so very authentic to them, and they incorporated many wonderful personal and thoughtful details.

I absolutely LOVE their ‘how we met’ story too…

The report today is written by them both, and photography is by the brilliantly talented Prinos Photography.

Lesbian Jewish Wedding at The Old Manse, ConcordLesbian Jewish Wedding at The Old Manse, Concord
how we met

Jessica: I was jumping rope in my apartment on the top floor of a high rise in Manhattan overlooking the East River and I was saying to myself, “I just want to meet my own Jen.” My eldest brother is married to a beautiful Jen with curly red hair and my other brother is married to a beautiful Jewish Jen from New Jersey. Two weeks later I met my Jen and she’s Jewish, from New Jersey and has curly red hair!

Jennifer: We met in February 2007 during a cocktail event at the Asia Society in Manhattan. We had less than fifteen minutes together but there was an intrigue about Jessica that made me want to learn more. I gave her my number, and she called three days later. We both lived on 1st Avenue, she was uptown and I was downtown… We fell in love on the 1st Avenue bus.

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Emma & David | Elegant tropical garden Jewish wedding at Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

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Garden-Jewish-wedding
Emma and David’s big day is absolutely exquisite, and for a summery garden wedding I don’t think you can beat their beautiful colour scheme and all their ‘beachy’ touches. I’m talking Emma’s starfish-topped heels, the elegant palm-patterned wedding stationery, the pretty florals with an almost coral reef-like feel, and  the cutest kissing flamingoes cake topper!

Emma’s wise words at the end are nothing short of perfect, reminding us all of the most important things in wedding planning and your lives together thereafter. But never mind that — check out their multi-coloured sprinkles covered cake. O.M.G!

I must also mention that our beautiful bride tragically lost her grandma very suddenly on the morning of her wedding. It must have been unbelievably difficult to genuinely celebrate the day, but these two managed to come through, and their rabbi sensitively incorporated the heartache into their wedding ceremony (which incidentally took place beneath one of the most beautiful chuppahs I’ve ever seen on Smashing The Glass).

Justin DeMutiis has taken some amazing shots that perfectly illustrate Emma’s tale of her big day with David…

Elegant garden Jewish weddingElegant garden Jewish wedding
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Amanda & Charley | Super fun and intimate laidback Jew-ish wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and The Lark, Santa Barbara, California

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santa-barbara-courthouse-weddingI love it when my readers email me with their wedding planning queries and stories. I first heard from Amanda, a Smashing The Glass reader (and today’s beautiful bride!)  back in July 2014 with the following email:

Hi Karen! I am reaching out in regards to Kathleen and Liz’s beautiful wedding in Palm Springs that you featured on Smashing the Glass earlier this year. I am getting married this September and I have been looking for a chuppah far and wide. I haven’t had much luck, but I absolutely love Kathleen and Liz’s chuppah and was hoping you would be able to either provide their contact information or pass this email along with my details. I would love to ask if I could potentially rent their chuppah and incorporate their beautiful handmade piece in another celebration of love. If not, I completely understand but I figured it never hurt to ask!

I was so delighted that Amanda had reached out to me about this idea, and immediately put her in touch with Kathleen and Liz. For logistical reasons, the ‘passing of the chuppah’ didn’t work out, but there is a happy ending to the story! Amanda and Charley found a local craftsman who constructed their ideal chuppah out of reclaimed wood, and what’s really lovely, is that after their wedding, Amanda and Charley wanted to spread the love of their chuppah and pass it on, and they did just that (full story below!)

Amanda contacted me after her big day with her wedding story, and I am so delighted to share it with you today. It’s a true ‘Smashing The Glass’ W Day, bursting with creativity, authenticity and bucket loads of L.O.V.E.

These two pulled off their big day on a modest budget, and what an incredible job they did. So although the top image looks truly opulent, this is in fact an incredibly casual, laid back wedding with some amazing budget ideas. In fact Amanda says “keeping our wedding small and manageable left enough money for a honeymoon to Cambodia which was the best way to kick off spending the rest of our lives together!”

The biggest budget tip these two adhered to was keeping it small. They shared their celebration with a select group of close family and friends (just 40 people) and were confident enough not to invite the people who weren’t closely involved in their lives.

Can you believe that Amanda’s TWO divine wedding dresses, her shoes and her accessories were all purchased for under $1000 ( £650)?! All the florals were bought by Amanda from a local flower shop the day before the wedding, and instead of spending their budget on live music or a DJ, these two had their nearest and dearest contribute to a wonderfully personal Spotify playlist.

Amanda and Charley… I take my hat off to you. You definitely achieved your aim of creating the greatest party on the smallest budget.

Enjoy Amanda’s story below, and all the wonderful images taken by the rather talented Casey from CLB Creative

laidback Jewish wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and The Lark, Santa Barbara, California
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Talia & Indra | Colourful fusion Jewish Hindu ‘HinJew’ wedding at The Wit, Chicago, IL, USA

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As a fan of bold colour, multi-cultural weddings are such a visual treat for me. So I’m totally thrilled to be blogging this afternoon’s fusion Jewish Hindu or ‘HinJew’ wedding that’s an all-out explosion of colour and fun. From the bride’s multi-coloured hair to her stunning dress, vivid jewellery and wonderful mix of flowers, to the groom’s hip style and snazzy bejewelled shoes!

This wedding really shows how to perfectly amalgamate cultures, rituals, merrymaking, and personality! Talia and Indra made sure that amongst all their combined traditions they didn’t forget to let their personalities shine through. One of my favourite (and oh-so-simple) party details is that they had a design-your-own-‘mac-and-cheese-bar’ , because Talia is obsessed with this dish!

I absolutely adore Talia’s colourful dress and accessories which suit her down to the ground and I think that it’s safe to say that Talia’s dad agrees too. The emotional photo of him when he sees her for the first time gave me a lump in my throat…

So settle down and enjoy Talia’s infectiously fun words, alongside some super stunning imagery from Roots of Life Photography.

Colourful fusion Hindu Jewish 'HinJew' wedding at theWit, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Colourful fusion Hindu Jewish 'HinJew' wedding at theWit, Chicago, Illinois, USA
a colourful city chic venue

Talia, the Bride: We chose theWit in Chicago, as we wanted a unique and colourful wedding venue with a city feel within easy walking distance to fun things to do before and after the wedding. And in terms of Chicago, there is definitely a significance there. We knew we were going to be a destination wedding for most people no matter where we had it, since we had guests traveling from South Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas, Canada, India, etc. So we chose to go with our favourite US city, which earned a special place in our hearts since we had our first date there. It made the whole event that much more meaningful to be able

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Susie & Andrew | Gold themed city-chic Jewish Wedding at South Branch, Chicago, with the bride in a sequin-covered wedding dress!

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gold-blush-themed-city-chic-wedding
I adore this morning’s wedding. The colour palette of blush pink and golden hues is beautiful, and bride Susie’s blush tulle BHLDN gown (a super flattering hue for fair-skinned blondes by the way) glimmers from head to toe in full-on floor length gold and silver sequins. I LOVE it.

Susie found her dress a year in advance and it became the inspiration for the rest of her wedding decor and her chosen theme of gold and blush (one of my favourite colour combos).

This is city chic done delicately and beautifully – it’s so elegant, pretty, and relaxed. Just wait until you see the simple but oh so dreamy chuppah, the divine florals and the vivid and contemporary ketubah design.

The images are courtesy of Thomas Slack from Slack Photography, who has captured Susie and Andrew’s day exquisitely. With every image, the tone is just right. Anticipation, fun, laughter, love and joy all come through.

Personally, I think this is a fabulous way to start the week…and I really hope you’ll agree.

Gold and blush Jewish Wedding at South Branch restaurant, Chicago, Illinois, USA
A restaurant venue

Susie, the Bride: We are not “ballroom” people, and we wanted something different and less formal, so we decided to go with a restaurant. South Branch is located right on the river in downtown Chicago and the outdoor ceremony space and bar seemed perfect for our ceremony and party. We were also very busy while planning the wedding (I was finishing up my MBA) and South Branch made it so easy for us.  The restaurant is beautiful and needed very little in terms of decor, which was perfect for us!

Gold and blush Jewish Wedding at South Branch restaurant, Chicago, Illinois, USAGold and blush Jewish Wedding at South Branch restaurant, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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